Words

       Life's navigation is often assisted by labels. Stop/Go, On/Off, Push/Pull, Fire Escape, Sale, and the many other words that affect the selections we make. During my childhood days in the 1950s, a common emotional self-defense was "Sticks and stones may break my bones but, words will never hurt me". This was often not the case, but you could still vacate the scene with your pride intact. Likewise, one word frequently discussed in my Church going clan was the word Lord. Now this word was not to be used in vain, but respectfully used in songs and sermons. You can certainly imagine what impact the use of this word "Lord of both Maelors, Oswestry, and Whittingham" would have on my Spiritual bones. Say what! My ancestors labeled as Lord? Blasphemy! 

      A few family tree branches were broken as my genealogy hunts expanded. How was this word (Lord) being used so many years in the past? There must be some explanation in the fields of time. Here is what was discovered.

      The word lord is derived from the French half and the Old English hlaford, both meaning loaf. Now my frequently used and, frequently abused Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary p. 674 adds "+ weard keeper". What? another word to understand?  Interestingly, HYWEL DDA THE LAW p. 113 writes:

"A mill and a weir and an orchard are called the three precious things of a kindred, and there is no right to share these or to alienate them, but their fruits are shared to those who are entitled to them."

      Wow, a weir (in Welsh Cored) is a fishing place. My old faithful dictionary p.1319 gives:

                               "a fence or enclosure set in a waterway for taking fish"

      Unbelievable, loaves and fish! Sounds like one of those miracles to me. [book of Matthew 14:15-20] Let's see now. A Lord is the one who is responsible for putting food on the table. Hum...Lord of both Maelors, Oswestry, and Whittington gives a new concept to my spiritual bones. There would be lots of food needed here.

      P.S. A well written and very helpful reference titled "THE ROOTS OF LANGUAGE"--"How modern speech evolved from a single, ancient source" U.S. News & World Report, November 5, 1990. The discussion of the Proto-Indo-European root starts page 60 and goes to page 70. Must be from the maternal side for it is titled "The Mother Tongue".